Eyeshield 21: the post that pimp'd your whole life and everything else ever
HAI GUYS. I haven't been around LJ since forever-and Lawd! it has been missed-but I totally have an excuse. I do! It's called Eyeshield 21, and as usual, it's all blizzardseason's fault.
"What's she talking about? And where's that [x porn drabble] she promised me?" I can hear you thinking and scrolling down your flist in disgust.
And while the porn is not yet ready (BUT WILL BE, VERY SOON, HONEST YOU GUYS), I can tell you the answer is this:
It's a manga about MAGICAL HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL, y'all. Let's just wait a minute for that to sink in. No, really: I'll be patient.
Recovered? Ha, don't count on it. DeimonHigh.com summarized Eyeshield 21 thusly:
"After just being accepted to Deimon High School, Kobayakawa Sena was hoping to erase his past of being an "errand boy." To do this, he was advised to make new friends and join a club by Anezaki Mamori, a life long friend/protector of his. Sena ends up joining the American Football team as a fast running back where he teams up with Hiruma Youichi and Kurita Ryukan. To prevent other teams from snatching their new star player, Sena is forced to hide his identity with a dark visor on his helmet where he is known as "Eyeshield 21." Now, as the fast running back for the Deimon Devil Bats, Sena is destined to lead the team into victory with his abnormal speed."
Which, okay, let's face it, sounds completely retarded. And you know what? It totally is. But don't you also know how sometimes a show seems like crack, and reads like crack, and is, in fact, crack, but you still love it? (Life On Mars people, I'm looking at you.) If you don't, or aren't willing to admit it, try Eyeshield 21 on for size and see how you like the fix fit.
Now, I know, I know-it's about football. And it's yet another tournament series, like Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragonball Z. BUT! There's something special, aside from the distinct lack of eye-boggling hairstyles-and that is the characters, their foibles and interactions. You guys, these people are unbelievable. You literally will not believe. To wit:
TAKE A LOOK AT THESE ROCK STARS.
(And that last one, seriously, I kid you not. Oh, Hiruma, your phallic shenanigans are almost too much to be believed-and yet, there they are. Incredible.)
Now, you may be wondering what such a prodigious amount of heavy artillery is doing in a football manga, or why it looks like there are only three people in the working cast, or if this has anything to do with sports at all. I did the characters an injustice and focused only on my favorites the reeeeally major ones-trust me, the characters themselves are as plentiful and diverse as one could wish for, and all of them singularly badass. I actually tried taking a shot of every person I liked in the manga; you guys, my Photoshop shut down.
As for the plot, yes, there is lots of football. Sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it can be a bit of a drag-because seriously, do I LOOK like I care if they gained five yards or ten?-but overall the pace is fantastic, and besides: men in tight clothing, constantly tackling each other and rolling on the ground, locked in an intense and manly struggle full of panting and writhing and sweat. Like, all the time. And the art is simply to die for. How is this bad?
(Oh my god, you guys, the amount of crotch shots in this manga, I just, you would not BELIEVE.)
Besides the Manly Mannish Malesomeness surging (manfully!) out of every tackle scene-except for Sena, he's, like, X-TREME JAILBAIT-the story is hilariously enjoyable. There's an excellent blend of humor, suspense, drama, and just plain goofiness to keep the plot rolling along at a steady clip. You don't have to be a football afficionado to get any of the technobabble, because everything is explained smoothly, and the author isn't afraid to give a kick in the rear or throw in a sudden wrench in the story-clockwork to keep matters interesting.
The concept starts out fairly simple-win the Christmas Bowl football tournament thing; kick ass; chew gum-then branches out and grows complicated as characters gain more depth and all sorts of shenanigans occur. It never gets too heavy, though, or annoyingly detailed, mostly due to the clever use of omake at the beginning and ends of chapters. (Check it out, you guys: chapter 100 is just 20 uninterrupted pages of 4-koma comics. Cutest thing EVER.)
What else can be said? Oh, yes: the fandom rocks. I say this from a slightly biased perspective, of course, because I've had crazygood fic support from the start, but honestly, there are some smokin' hot patrons. Try hydr0phobia's archive for a start, and ladysisyphus' fics-you might not like them, but if so, something's horribly wrong with you. Not to mention blue_phlox's gorgeous artwork! (Eyeshield's even got its very own kink meme, though I'm not going to link to it until these folks get their ass in shape and stop sucking the bejeezus out of bad comment challenges.) There are RPGs and discussions and more communities than you could possibly know what to do with: even yours truly got coerced into joining the fray. I mean, for serious, lovelies-what more could a fangirl want?
ALRIGHT ALREADY, I hear you scream (or groan, or gasp, or squee)-GIVE US THE FUCKING MANGA.
And here it is, the very first page of the very first chapter: ladies and gentlemen, Eyeshield 21.
Enjoy and write fic, damnit spread the love! ♥
"What's she talking about? And where's that [x porn drabble] she promised me?" I can hear you thinking and scrolling down your flist in disgust.
And while the porn is not yet ready (BUT WILL BE, VERY SOON, HONEST YOU GUYS), I can tell you the answer is this:
It's a manga about MAGICAL HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL, y'all. Let's just wait a minute for that to sink in. No, really: I'll be patient.
Recovered? Ha, don't count on it. DeimonHigh.com summarized Eyeshield 21 thusly:
"After just being accepted to Deimon High School, Kobayakawa Sena was hoping to erase his past of being an "errand boy." To do this, he was advised to make new friends and join a club by Anezaki Mamori, a life long friend/protector of his. Sena ends up joining the American Football team as a fast running back where he teams up with Hiruma Youichi and Kurita Ryukan. To prevent other teams from snatching their new star player, Sena is forced to hide his identity with a dark visor on his helmet where he is known as "Eyeshield 21." Now, as the fast running back for the Deimon Devil Bats, Sena is destined to lead the team into victory with his abnormal speed."
Which, okay, let's face it, sounds completely retarded. And you know what? It totally is. But don't you also know how sometimes a show seems like crack, and reads like crack, and is, in fact, crack, but you still love it? (Life On Mars people, I'm looking at you.) If you don't, or aren't willing to admit it, try Eyeshield 21 on for size and see how you like the fix fit.
Now, I know, I know-it's about football. And it's yet another tournament series, like Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragonball Z. BUT! There's something special, aside from the distinct lack of eye-boggling hairstyles-and that is the characters, their foibles and interactions. You guys, these people are unbelievable. You literally will not believe. To wit:
TAKE A LOOK AT THESE ROCK STARS.
(And that last one, seriously, I kid you not. Oh, Hiruma, your phallic shenanigans are almost too much to be believed-and yet, there they are. Incredible.)
Now, you may be wondering what such a prodigious amount of heavy artillery is doing in a football manga, or why it looks like there are only three people in the working cast, or if this has anything to do with sports at all. I did the characters an injustice and focused only on my favorites the reeeeally major ones-trust me, the characters themselves are as plentiful and diverse as one could wish for, and all of them singularly badass. I actually tried taking a shot of every person I liked in the manga; you guys, my Photoshop shut down.
As for the plot, yes, there is lots of football. Sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it can be a bit of a drag-because seriously, do I LOOK like I care if they gained five yards or ten?-but overall the pace is fantastic, and besides: men in tight clothing, constantly tackling each other and rolling on the ground, locked in an intense and manly struggle full of panting and writhing and sweat. Like, all the time. And the art is simply to die for. How is this bad?
(Oh my god, you guys, the amount of crotch shots in this manga, I just, you would not BELIEVE.)
Besides the Manly Mannish Malesomeness surging (manfully!) out of every tackle scene-except for Sena, he's, like, X-TREME JAILBAIT-the story is hilariously enjoyable. There's an excellent blend of humor, suspense, drama, and just plain goofiness to keep the plot rolling along at a steady clip. You don't have to be a football afficionado to get any of the technobabble, because everything is explained smoothly, and the author isn't afraid to give a kick in the rear or throw in a sudden wrench in the story-clockwork to keep matters interesting.
The concept starts out fairly simple-win the Christmas Bowl football tournament thing; kick ass; chew gum-then branches out and grows complicated as characters gain more depth and all sorts of shenanigans occur. It never gets too heavy, though, or annoyingly detailed, mostly due to the clever use of omake at the beginning and ends of chapters. (Check it out, you guys: chapter 100 is just 20 uninterrupted pages of 4-koma comics. Cutest thing EVER.)
What else can be said? Oh, yes: the fandom rocks. I say this from a slightly biased perspective, of course, because I've had crazygood fic support from the start, but honestly, there are some smokin' hot patrons. Try hydr0phobia's archive for a start, and ladysisyphus' fics-you might not like them, but if so, something's horribly wrong with you. Not to mention blue_phlox's gorgeous artwork! (Eyeshield's even got its very own kink meme, though I'm not going to link to it until these folks get their ass in shape and stop sucking the bejeezus out of bad comment challenges.) There are RPGs and discussions and more communities than you could possibly know what to do with: even yours truly got coerced into joining the fray. I mean, for serious, lovelies-what more could a fangirl want?
ALRIGHT ALREADY, I hear you scream (or groan, or gasp, or squee)-GIVE US THE FUCKING MANGA.
And here it is, the very first page of the very first chapter: ladies and gentlemen, Eyeshield 21.
Enjoy and write fic, damnit spread the love! ♥